The 2012 Bronx Pride festival took place this past Saturday despite the shutting down of host Bronx Community Pride Center after alleged embezzlement by its former executive director. Organizers and participants committed themselves to ensuring that the show would go on. El Diario/La Prensa‘s Carolina Ledezma introduced us to one of them, local celebrity Appolonia Cruz, a drag queen with Puerto Rican roots who went from Selena impersonator to LGBT activist. The translation below from Spanish was published on July 20, the day before the parade.

Although Appolonia Cruz moved from the Bronx to Miami 20 years ago, the Puerto Rican “drag queen” never lost her ties to her neighborhood. A decade later, having returned to New York and becoming a celebrity, Cruz’s connection with her neighborhood is more alive than ever when it comes to saving the Bronx’s gay pride festival.

This Saturday, when the event will kick off in Corona Park, the first part of her mission will be complete.

For 16 years, Bronx Pride was a regular event for lesbians, gays, bisexuals, and transgender individuals in the borough, and was organized by the recently shut down Bronx Community Pride Center.

Less than a month ago, the center closed and its director was arrested on corruption charges. Despite that, Peter C. Frank, Cruz, and other members of the LGBT community made efforts to save the event, while simultaneously working to create an alternative center in the same neighborhood.

From the stage to activism

Born in a matriarchal family of six children, Appolonia Cruz recalled that her rise to fame “was almost a joke” back on a Halloween night in 1991. Dressed as the Tex-Mex singer Selena, she drove her fans wild at a well-known club in Miami. Cruz has been sewing and designing her own clothing since she was 6 years old, something that has been her hallmark from the start.

“I not only set out to become an artist, but to advocate for my community,” she said.

She started to build her spirit of activism by protesting in demonstrations against AIDS and by fighting for gay rights, while at night, she was a star at mansions and clubs that catered to the transgender community.

Her brother, the well-known DJ Eddie Cruz, made her return home.

“He told me he would make me a star, although I already had made a name for myself,” Cruz recalled gracefully. Ever the lady, Cruz will not reveal her age.

“I came here to make a change in my life, and it was then that I started to participate in local LGBT groups and to host Brooklyn Pride, Queens Pride, and Bronx Pride,” she said.

One of these events, which highlighted her struggle for human rights, was the 7th Annual NYC Wedding March in 2010, where countless individuals marched in favor of gay marriage.

“I fought for that right when I was based in Miami, but nobody there took it seriously,” Cruz said, clarifying that she hasn’t had a partner for a decade.

Unlike in Miami, the [New York] demonstration was crucial for legalizing gay marriage in the state.

“I do it for my friends that died, whose families took everything without leaving anything for their partners,” she said.

Cruz has dedicated her time to Bronx Pride for years. This year, she will share the stage with her friend Tyra Allure. She will also produce and put together the cast for the show; appearances will include Dominican Barbie Crawford and Amadis, a salsa singer from New Jersey.

“I used to have nothing to do with the Bronx Community Pride Center, but now I’m going to be more involved with the new organization so that it can function the way we all want it to,” she said, promising to clear up any misunderstandings.

Headquartered in the back of a small supermarket in Dalton, GA, the Coalición de Líderes Latinos de Georgia (CLILA) has served the area’s Hispanic community for 13 years, Mundo Hispánico reports. CLILA offers English and citizenship classes and DACA application help, among other legal and community services. The coalition was founded in 2006 by Mexican immigrant América Gruner, who sought to mobilize the area’s large Hispanic population (mostly working in the carpet industry) against anti-immigrant measures but found that many were not eligible to vote because they didn’t apply for citizenship, or didn’t speak the language. Link to original story →

The number of Puerto Rican women receiving benefits from the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children (WIC) dropped by 43 percent in the past five years, El Vocero reports. The numbers reflect a childbirth drop partially caused by the Zika virus scare, during which many women avoided pregnancy, but the main cause is the mass emigration of young families away from the island. The decrease in the federal program of recipients has also hit businesses that provide WIC-funded foods: 18 percent of them have closed, and the rest have been forced to diversify their operations. Link to original story →

An investigation by El Nuevo Día shows the “extreme decay” of San Juan, Puerto Rico’s capital, as the municipal government reduced its contractual commitments almost by half compared to 2013. As residents complain of crumbling roads, criminality and lack of cleaning services, the city has had a population loss of more than 90,000 residents in the past 10 years. The loss in municipal income has resulted in a $183 million debt in spite of a $73 million budget cut. The problem is exacerbated by non-payments the Government Development Bank for Puerto Rico and the city’s difficulties in borrowing money. Link to original story →

Pro-immigrant organizations in Georgia expressed relief and surprise as Republican Gov. Brian Kemp emerged as an unlikely ally this week, Mundo Hispánico reports. Kemp abolished a board investigating immigration law violations which has been accused of illegally harassing immigrant communities. Kemp also vetoed the SB15 bill, requiring Georgia schools to investigate students for “suspicious activities” and create “school safety coaches,” which activists feared would target minority youths. “This is definitely a victory for us,” said Adelina Nicholls, of the Georgia Latino Alliance for Human Rights (GLAHR). “You have your ups and downs but this triumph motivates us to keep going.”
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